Who are we?

Just a speck of dust within the galaxy?

Woe is me

If we're not careful turns into reality

But don't you dare let our best memories bring you sorrow

Yesterday I saw a lion kiss a deer

Turn the page, maybe we'll find a brand new ending

Where we're dancing in our tears

And God, tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young

It's hunting season and the lambs are on the run

We're searching for meaning

But are we all lost stars trying to light up the dark? – Adam Levine

Sookie POV

It only takes me about a second to start pounding on the door of the room where I have been held. There's really nothing I can lose at this point so there is no reason to stay quiet. My captors surely know I am here. If this is Eric coming to rescue me hopefully the banging and yelling will alert them to where I am. And if it's a hostile takeover well, I'll be trading one captor for another.

I am not going to ask what would be my luck of that occurring because we all know how my luck has been going lately.

After a few minutes of banging in which it seems all that I have managed to do is bloody my knuckles, the door remains closed and locked. The hallway has gotten eerily quiet and I refuse to think about what that may mean for my potential rescue party.

I resort to pacing, returning to banging on the door every few minutes. I use every single part of my body that I can think of because I don't think my wrists can take anymore. Granted, I do not use my head, but I think that is a good decision. The hallway stays quiet though and I don't know what to make of it. Maybe it wasn't Eric coming for me that caused the panic and whatever it was is under control now. There are many maybes that I can think of. All I know for sure is that I hope my door opens soon and I hope I like the person who is behind it.

When the door finally bursts open, I am hopeful for about half a second until I realize just who is coming through the door. I should have known I wasn't going to get away from him that easily. No, even if under attack he'd want to make sure that he was able to hurt his child in the worst possible way. And right now, I give him a way to do just that.

Now, Appius must have never been the poster boy for mental health with what he put his child through; there was probably some major issues there somewhere. When he approaches me however, I see no sanity left in his face. He must realize that there are only two possible outcomes for what is going on right now; either he will win and destroy his child in whatever was he has planned or he will lose and be finally dead anyway. He's got nothing to lose at this point and that is a very frightening thing.

"It seems that even without my bastard of a child, those little ingrates of his want you back," he says snarling. Eric is definitely not the vampire in this scenario I would ever consider calling a bastard but I am not exactly going to be bringing that up now. Appius has been in the room for only a minute or so now but I have managed to escape unscathed so far. That is definitely a trend that I hope continues.

My heart does soar though at his words, only because it appears that my people, my family is the source for the current chaos that is currently working its way throughout the building. It is clear that Appius really believes that Eric is finally dead. I don't know why that surprises me; Appius obviously never had any faith in his child. But I do and I believe my vampire has a plan. I say a quick prayer that everyone will make it out of here alive and not finally dead in said plan.

Except for a few key players of course. I would not mind if anyone on Appius's side finds the pointy end of a stick, including the maniac currently standing in front of me. In fact, he is at the top of my list to end up with a piece of wood in his chest.

I find myself backing into the corner of Appius gets closer and closer to me. I would say uncomfortably closer but we passed that long ago. Being in the same state or even country as this asshole is uncomfortable enough for me. One second there is plenty of space between us, and the next I can feel his eyelashes against my cheek as he blinks. I register that there is suddenly more space between a hair quicker than I register the pain in the side of my head and in my back.

The bastard threw me against the wall!

I close my eyes as the pain starts to increase. I try to take a step away from the wall but my one of my legs will no longer support my weight. It must have hit the wall weirdly when I crashed against it. At least that's what I hope is causing the injury; I really hope it's not my head that appears to be bleeding pretty well by the wetness that I feel moving down my neck.

My rescue party can't come soon enough.

I don't have much time to recover however as I suddenly find myself gasping for air as my feet are no longer touching the ground. And, oh yeah, Appius is holding me in the air by my neck. He doesn't really seem too keen on waiting for the outcome of whatever battle is going on right now.

No, he seems to simply want me dead.

Blackness starts to invade my eyes and I'm hoping it's because of the head injury but with the heaviness that is setting into my limbs, I am leaning more towards the loss of oxygen. I stop kicking but my hands are still at his at my neck, trying in vain to pull them off. I refuse to give up though and color me surprised when I find myself back on the ground gasping in mouthfuls of air until the blackness around my eyes goes away.

And then I am even more surprised when I see whom I can thank for the precious oxygen that is managing to find its way into my lungs. I truly don't know if I should be thankful or worried as I take in Felipe de Castro who is currently standing behind Appius who currently finds himself on the ground.

"She is not to be harmed," he says. "A telepath was what I was promised in this. A telepath is what I will get. She's of no use to me dead," de Castro says with a growl. As thankful as I am that he saved me, I don't feel the same way about his motivation in doing so.

When all the blackness finally clears from my eyes I can see an object that Felipe must have used to hit Appius – it's a big shard of wood! It's just out of my reach but hopefully these two can continue their argument and not notice me trying to get closer to it. I fall from the sitting position I initially fell to and continue to gasp for breath hoping that they will think my collapse is more due to struggle than trying to get to that precious piece of wood.

They seemingly pay me no attention, not seeing me as that much of a threat. I have two strikes against me. Not only am I a measly human but I am also an injured measly human. So as they see to ignore me in favor of yelling at each other, I get closer and closer to that piece of wood.

My fingers just wrap around it when I realize that the two male vampires are no longer speaking to each other. I get a kick to my hand and I swear I feel my bones break along with any hope I had, as the piece of wood is now precious feet away from me; it may as well be miles.

I am kicked so I am forced to roll over on my side to find de Castro is leaning over me. Judging by the kick he distributed to me, the vampire is not opposed to me being hurt by him, at least not any more. "I wouldn't be touching that," he says with a smile.

Confusion fills me as the smile is soon off his face and he looks like he is about to be sick. The confusion grows as I find myself covered in red goo that used to be Felipe de Castro, King of Nevada. The confusion disappears however when I see that Thalia is standing behind where de Castro used to be!

I try and get up as soon as I see her but I don't get too far. It's all okay though, because I soon find myself in her arms. I wrap my arms around her neck at the sight of her ignoring the pain in both of my arms to do that. I am so thankful to see her but I do still have a question on the tip of my tongue. She doesn't even give me the chance to ask though before she says, "He's fine. He's outside waiting for you."

That's all she manages to get out though before I find myself pushed up against the wall and suddenly behind her. Appius is back on his feet and he currently has the shard of wood in his hand and is launching it towards Thalia's chest!

Thalia POV

I got to Sookie. I got to kill Madden on my way to getting to Sookie. I got to kill de Castro. All wins for me yet I count making it to Sookie as the biggest one. I have managed to keep the first part of my promise to Eric; I have made it to Sookie and have found her alive. Now all that is left to do is to get her to him still alive. Appius clearly doesn't want to allow that to happen as he charges at me with a piece of wood.

This could be fun.

I can't simply side step him because that will leave Sookie wide open to his lunge and something tells me that Appius would not be opposed to that. Instead, my sword comes up to block his weapon and my foot goes out to sweep him off his. Noise outside distracts me for a second though and I find myself on my back right next to Eric's maker. I roll away just missing the wood as it crashes down to the ground.

Good news – it breaks when it hits the ground. Bad news – that just means there are more little pieces of wood for him to get his hands on.

I am back to my feet right after Appius who attempts to circle me. This is something that I do not allow as I am not moving from my spot in between him and Sookie, no way in hell.

I make a move but Appius sees it coming and his counter knocks my weapon from my hands, and that is when I get really excited. I haven't had a good hand-to-hand fight in years; they've lasted far too short in my opinion. As much as I would love to think that Appius would fall into the too short category as well, I have a feeling that this is going to last longer than my more recent fights.

And I am not disappointed.

When we are both back on our feet, he comes flying at me and I am quick to block him and change his angle so he doesn't fly straight into Sookie. And that's when I realize that this fight will be different than others; I am not only fighting for myself. I am fighting for Sookie and for my family.

It's a fight that I am going to win.

We both move quickly and to Sookie must simply be blurs. I manage to stun him with a well-placed kick to his head but he is able to force me down with him as he falls. He manages a kick when I am down but as I get up, I tear one of his arms out of their socket. I can't help but smile as he stands and it dangles uselessly as he has made Sookie's. That thought gets me moving again.

We are pretty evenly matched, until I feel my sword being pushed into my hand. I spare a look with one eye, keeping one on Appius to see that Sookie has somehoe managed to get to it. I am quick on my feet and my sword is at his throat quicker than he could blink.

"You," I say glaring down at him as he moves on his elbows back across the room until he hits a wall. "You have tried to destroy this little family I didn't even know I wanted. And all because your child realized how full of crap you really are."

"I want to make you feel all the pain you pushed on your child his first centuries of a vampire. I want to have you feel all the hurt your torture had him endure for centuries. I wish I could have felt your torture when you realized your child has far surpassed you in just about everything, everything we would want him to at least."

"There are many, many things that I want to do to you and you deserve more than what even my mind can come up with. And I have a very creative mind," I tell him getting even closer. I relish at seeing the fear in his eyes. He must have seen the fear in Eric's eyes many times before in their past. It did nothing for him and his is doing nothing to dissuade me.

"But you don't deserve any more of our time," a little voice calls from behind him. "You just aren't worth the effort." And suddenly, Appis Livius Ocella is no more and Sookie is standing in front of me holding a bloody piece of wood.

"You ruined my fun," I tell her with a smile on my face.

"I'm sure there will be plenty more fun for you as we get out of here," she says stepping away from the wall. She doesn't make it too far before she starts to fall and I have her in my arms before her face can meet the ground; it doesn't seem like her hands and arms would be much help to prevent that at this point.

"Okay killer," I tell her lightly. "Let's get you out of here." It's the repetition of my words and her laughter that gets me moving faster. The odd behavior has me worried that the head injury is more serious than it looks.

Luckily, our people have done their job and the quickest way out is clear because Sookie becomes unsteady on her feet and I end up lifting her into my arms and carrying her out, being careful not to jostle her too much.

I make it outside and I look for Eric as Sookie is saying something about black and not seeing. I don't want to imagine what that means and I thank whatever lord will listen to a vampire when I find Eric. I can see the look in his eyes as he takes in Sookie who has gotten much quieter at my side. I would not have hesitated to give her my blood but I am glad I do not have to.

Though my happiness turns to fear when I see what is happening behind Eric.

I put Sookie on the ground as gently as I can with the speed I need to have to get to the vampire currently poised to behead Eric and take off his head before he finishes his swing. Eric gives me a short glance before he races over to see Sookie. I continue to move across the grass and make it to Jason and Bubba who are holding their own at the moment but I want to make sure it stays that way.

I am making my way towards the two when Jason is suddenly shoved at me. Usually that would not be a problem and I would simply catch and move him but it was at an awkward time in my step and we both end up on the ground, Jason on top of me. He is only for a split second though before I throw him off to the side as a machete comes down at us. I grimace in pain as I feel it connect with my arm and I just hope it stops its momentum before it enters my chest.

Eric POV

This is quite possibly the hardest thing that I have ever done and there have been many difficult things I have done in my past. I have had to put up with mindless torture of many varieties by my maker; yes, I now understand what Appius put me through was nothing short of torture. I cannot deny that now. But I would gladly repeat what I have gone through at his hands than go through torture like this again.

This feeling of helplessness, like there is nothing I can do to try and save Sookie, to try and protect my children my family as they go and try to save Sookie is a type of torture all of it's own. I look up at the sky, looking to seek comfort in the stars, the source of comfort in my first centuries as a vampire. The sky seems like it is mocking me though as there is not a star to be seen. It is a coincidence that is not lost on me as I feel like I have lost my stars, my comfort, since I lost Sookie.

Octavia comes over to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. The simple motion tells me how wound up I truly am as my muscles flex and dance under her touch. She promises me that I will be fighting soon but that is not my concern right now. My only concern is how soon will my wife be in my arms.

And with me out here instead of going into where she is, the answer is simply too long. It has been too long already.

I shake that thought out of my head and focus on the here and now. That is what I will need to do to get Sookie and everyone else I care about out of here. I can hear Jason and Bubba talking quietly yards away. No one likes that Jason is here; he would be safer if he were far, far away. But none of us were willing to take the chance of hiding him somewhere and then he being snatched as well. So he is here with us, here with me on the outskirts of most of the major fighting. Bubba has directions to make sure nothing happens to the older Stackhouse.

I am hoping that nothing also happens to the younger Stackhouse. And as that thought enters my mind, a first wave of the enemy comes streaming out of the warehouse. Finally, after too many nights I have somewhere to focus all of my anger. I take one more look at Jason ensuring that he is far enough away and that Bubba is still with his before making my way into foray.

The first five I face do not stand a chance. Their heads are no longer on their shoulders with one swing of my sword. The sixth actually stands a chance. Not a very good one but my sword did not quite make it completely through his neck as I swung. He tries to kick at me and get free but I simply lift my arm holding my sword and suddenly his feet are swinging harmlessly in the air. Now it is me that kicks at him, which gets him off my sword. He lands hard a few feet away but I am already next to him when he hits the ground. His head never does as it is still in the air from where I detached from his shoulders. I should feel satisfaction from their deaths and I suppose that I would be lying if I said that I feel none. It is nothing like the satisfaction I should be feeling however. Something tells me that I will not have that back until a Stackhouse is back in my arms.

And I am not talking about Jason.

The first rush out of the warehouse did not really keep me too busy but the second one does. It is much larger and I am not surprised at that; my maker has probably done nothing to instill loyalty in any of the people he had working for him. The way that they are running way proves that.

But it is clear that they did not expect us to be out here when they did so.

I work my way into the group killing and injuring. Those I am out here with seem to have come to a conclusion; they are going to let me kill as many things as I can. My people, my friends and family, know that I need to fight something. They are willing to let me do just that but they stay close enough to step in if I should need them but the anger I have in me is enough to carry me through the second wave though it does take me longer than the first did.

Except for one.

He is small, couldn't be more than a teen when he was human and as soon as I see him I know that I am looking at my vampire brother. Appius would be the only one insane enough to do so when he must have been so close to death. I think of Bubba and know what has happened to him through his transition. The look in my brother's eyes tell me that he is not exactly like Bubba though and my heart falls when I think of what I most likely will have to do.

He cocks his head to the side and says, "You're Eric." I nod and he says, "I have wanted to meet you for a very long time."

I do not know what to say to him. If I had known of his existence, I probably would have done everything I could have to get him away from Appius, but I had not felt the bond that must have been created when Appius made him vampire. This thought makes me wonder how long whatever witch placed the spell that no longer allowed me to feel Sookie has been working with him.

"I would have liked to meet you too if I had known about you," I tell him honestly.

He cocks his head to the other side, as if he is trying to measure me up. The fact that he does not know whether or not to believe me is clear on his face. I can see it in his eyes when he finally makes his decision and I feel disappointment at what I now he will force me to do.

"He has always talked about you," he says to me, his accent growing thicker. "He has always made it clear that I could never live up to his expectations, expectations set by you." And the surprises just keep on coming. Never would I have thought that Appius ever held be in that kind of regard. But the look in my vampire brother's eyes is telling me that what he says is true, or at least he believes it to be. He blames me for Appius' inadequacies when it comes to being a maker with him.

Little does he know… I would say he got off easy, but with Appius no one ever gets off easily.

He charges and seals his, our fate really. It is beyond clear that Appius has been raising him differently than he had me. I had better fighting skills after my first month, but then again I needed them for what he put me through. He may have raised the vampire that is swinging at me differently but that does not necessarily mean better.

I hate that my maker has doomed my brother and I hate that I am going to be the one to do it. Yet as he charges me again, I move slightly to the side and he never changes his angle, which allows me to take a hold of his neck. I hear and feel the unmistakable crunch as his neck breaks in my hand. He goes limp for a second before there is nothing left of him but blood.

And though I do not know him at all, I feel a loss.

I would have liked to know of his existence. I would have liked to try and protect him, even save him from our maker. I do not know if I could have made a difference but I would have liked the opportunity to try and make one. Yet another thing Appius took from me, took from us. I do not even know his name.

I hear Thalia call my name and it takes me out of my musings. Looking to her I immediately rush towards her seeing a Sookie that is much too limp for my liking. Sookie is not in her arms for long though and I can feel the rush of her moving past me and hear the unmistakable sound of a vampire losing his head. I hear her call to Octavia before she runs off in the direction of Jason just as I get to Sookie and take in her into my arms.

She doesn't respond at first and I jostle her gently and smile when I see her open my eyes. "I'm dreaming."

"You are not," I tell her.

"I can't feel you."

"You have no idea how sorry I am about that. I had to make sure Appius could not feel me. It was easier to block all bonds I have rather than isolate the one I share with him."

"Shared with him," she says her voice weak. "I killed him for you."

And just as she closes her eyes unable to say anything else, I feel my bond with her and my children come back to life and I realize how weak she truly is. I bite into my wrist as I call for someone to call Ludwig and than hold my bleeding wrist to her mouth, hoping that it is not too late. As I hold my wrist up to her mouth, I look up to the sky ready to offer up yet another prayer. As I do so, I see a lone, bright star shining in the sky. I hope that its present is more than a simple coincidence as I hold Sookie, my star, in my arms praying that my sky does not go dark again tonight.

Hello dear readers. I am sorry for the delay on this chapter (I didn't want to leave you hanging with this ending if need be) but I do hope that you have all enjoyed it. This song wasn't the original title for the chapter but for whatever reason it was the one I wanted to hear whenever I was working on it so I changed it to this. Many thanks for reading and thanks to those taking the time to leave their thoughts. This one is starting to wind down and I can say that I will miss it.

Also, there is another site up that is can be used for finding multiple authors and stories you may not have heard of before. It's at .

Now all I have left to do for the night is worry about who is going to get killed on The Walking Dead.

Jms88 – Thanks so much for letting me know you are enjoying this little tale. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Kate – Hope you enjoyed the rescue mission. Next chapter we will find out just how everyone fares.

VampMad50 – Glad you thought so and I hope you liked this on!